Full Idea
The order of the number-series is not governed by an external relation but by an internal relation.
Gist of Idea
The order of numbers is an internal relation, not an external one
Source
Ludwig Wittgenstein (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus [1921], 4.1252)
Book Reference
Macdonald,Cynthia: 'Varieties of Things' [Blackwell 2005], p.27
A Reaction
He seems to mean something like a tautology (see Idea 7968). It is, I take it, part of the concept of any given integer that it has a place in the series. But do the concepts arise self-evidently, or from nature?
Related Idea
Idea 7968 A relation is internal if it is unthinkable that its object should not possess it [Wittgenstein]